


This Little Light of Mine

by CatLady86



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Adopted Child, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Injury, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 00:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14484234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatLady86/pseuds/CatLady86
Summary: During the world of Ruin, Gladio has been helping out where ever it is needed but finds it becoming increasingly hard to keep on going without the one he loves. Then when he helps load up some refugees for transport to safety, he stumbles across an orphan who will be the anchor he so desperately needs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> From this prompt https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4747.html?thread=9021323#cmt9021323 I'm in a sentimental mood and wanted fluff, so I'm uploading this. :D

YEAR 1

Gladio exits the rescue vehicle along with some others, heading inside the old motel where a group of survivors have hunkered down after being attacked by daemons. There were, unfortunately, many casualties. He scans across the grouping, brows furrowed in despair before stopping on a tiny quivering bundle laying in the corner all alone. Gladio goes to walk over but is stopped by a middle-aged woman.

“Let her rest, she has finally stopped crying and fell asleep. The poor dear’s mother was killed before her eyes and she has no other family. We tried to comfort her but she just shies away from us.”

Gladio frowns but does as instructed and checks up on some others, although he keeps finding his gaze returning to the little girl. Once everyone is bandaged up and checked to make sure no one was showing signs of the scourge, they were loaded up into the awaiting rescue vehicle. The shield walks over to the child and crouches down, giving her a gentle tap in an attempt to wake her up. 

“No, sleepy.” she mumbles out and lazily swipes at the man’s large hand before rolling further away. 

Gladio chuckles to himself and carefully scoops her up but stops with a gasp when he looks at her. She was quite small, possibly three or four, with peach skin and thick black hair that seemed to stick up and curl every which way. She reminded the man of someone, someone he had loved and recently lost. 

He bundles the tiny girl up and holds her protectively in his large arms, carrying her to the vehicle but instead of passing her off to someone else, he keeps hold of the tot. She shifts about at times and tangles her little hands into his shirt but remains asleep the rest of the drive back to Lestallum, even when he boops her rosy chubby cheek. Arriving back at the safety of the large city, Gladio carefully steps from the vehicle and carries the child towards one of the makeshift medical houses. He gently lays the little one down and rubs at her back as she whimpers and groans before settling back into a steady sleep.

“A little one?” an elderly doctor asks as he walks over to them. 

“Yeah, she’s an orphan too.”

“Oh dear,” the man says stroking his gray beard. “we’re already stretched thin with parentless children, but we’ll take her in. Every life counts now.” 

Gladio frowns deeply and strokes the girl’s soft hair before standing up from the floor where he was crouched. “Anything you all need here that could help?”

“Medical supplies, blankets, food, more room, helping hands, you name it we need it.”

“I can go out hunting for food and check around abandoned structures for other potential supplies.” 

“That would help greatly, thank you.”

Gladio nods and takes a quick glance back at the sleeping child before heading out. He returns a day later, managing to scrounge up some bandages, cleaners, and clothing along with an Anak calf for food, but when he goes to the medical housing he finds the little girl had taken off earlier. In a panic, Gladio scours every inch of the city looking for the child but not finding hide nor hair of her. But just when he thinks she may have wandered out of the city and is possibly dead, he finds her cowering by the entrance.

“Hey, what are you doing all by yourself? Come on, let’s get you back.” 

But the girl shakes her head as tears roll down her cheeks and she clutches at her filthy dress, the same one she had on when he left her. “No, mean lady.”

“Hmm? Mean lady? Who’s that?” he asks, crouching down and talking softly to her.

“Fuzzy dot.” she says and points to her chin.

Gladio does recall the rather nasty old nurse with a mole, the one who had given him a ration of shit for taking a shower there to wash off the blood of a patient he helped bandage. “What did she do that was mean?”

The girl hiccups and whimpers. “Hit.”

Gladio feels his stomach turn. “She hit you, why?” he asks and the girl fidgets with her dress, not answering. Gladio edges closer to her and goes to ask again but the smell of urine hits him hard. 

“Accident.” the girl cries.

Rage builds in the man. While he sees nothing wrong with punishment for misdeeds; he got his ass paddled and belted till he was a teenager for being a scrappy little shit; hitting a child for wetting themselves, let alone one who is still at the age where diapers are still a necessity for most, was disgustingly deplorable. 

“I, I want Mama!” the child wails, tears and snot running down her face.

His heart breaks for this little girl and he feels something inside himself flourish, something he hasn’t felt since a year ago. The need to protect. He moves closer to the child and extends his large hand out to her, waiting patiently for her to calm down. She hiccups slightly and wipes snot on her sleeve before looking at the man with curious but hauntingly familiar blue eyes. The tot then smiles at him with tiny gappy teeth and takes his hand. 

Gladio takes the child back to the medical housing and after he assures her he won’t let the mean lady hit her again; especially after backing the old bitch into a corner and having some choice words with her; gets the child washed up and in some new clothes. He goes to leave and meet up with Cor to do some more work, but upon meeting up with the older man he finds himself with a tag along.

“Gladio.” Cor says and points behind him.

The brunette turns but finds no one there, then proceeds to spin in a circle that gets a squeaky giggle from the child who reveals herself with a little 'rawr'. “Hey you, what are you doing out here? You should be back with the other children. And I took care of that mean lady so you don’t need to worry about her.”

“Play?” she says happily and extends her arms to him.

“I can’t, I need to do some work so that you and the other people here can continue to be safe.”

“Read?” 

“Later okay?”

“Gladio.” Cor grunts out and folds his arms.

“I know, I know.” he says and sighs. He crouches down in front of the girl and takes a soft tone with her. “Look, if you behave and go back to the clinic to wait for me, I’ll bring you a present, okay?”

“Okay!” the girl chirps and runs over to latch onto Cor’s leg. “I wait here.”

Both men let a groan out but let the child be, finding her to be stubborn and persuasive, just like a certain someone they both know.

YEAR 3

Gladio returns to Lestallum after being gone for almost a week and is now sporting a rather prominent limp after getting sliced up by an Imp during his latest excursion. He tries to quickly make his way to the clinic before anyone knows he’s back, but he fails and gets set upon by a very angry little girl.

“Daddy! You’re injured! You promised you’d not get injured! You promised!”

“I know, I’m sorry Melantha.” he says and groans.

While he’s not entirely keen on the idea, the child has pretty much adopted him as her surrogate parent, even calling him “Daddy” despite constantly correcting her and saying to call him Gladio. Prompto, Ignis, and Cor find it hilarious; the bastards; even his sister has taken to the little girl and makes her clothing and dolls out of fabrics she manages to stumble upon. She grabs hold of one of his fingers and leads him to the clinic where she attempts to help bandage him, only wrapping some toilet paper around his leg before kissing his chin and running off for snack time with the other children. 

“You need to be more careful Gladiolus, she greatly worries for you.” the doctor says as he gets to work actually bandaging him up. “Plus she has finally stopped having night terrors ever since you gave her that stuffed Moogle.” he says and smiles. “She named it Gladdy.”

The shield groans with annoyance but lets a small smile slip out. Once his leg is patched up, he goes to check with Holly and Jeanne to see if they need help with anything, on his way though, he finds his little lemming to be following close behind. 

“Didn’t I say to stay back at the clinic, it’s dangerous to be walking around like this.”

“But you’ll protect me, Daddy, just like you protected that man in Uncle Prom’s photo.” 

Gladio stops in his tracks and turns to her. “What photo?”

“It had you Daddy, and Uncle Prom, and Uncle Iggy, and a black haired guy with a grumpy face. There was also this giant rock in the background that looked like it went ‘swish’.” she says and arches her arms. 

“Ah, I see.” Gladio frowns and furrows his brows.

“Daddy? Why do you look sad?”

“Just thinking about things from the past.”

“About that man? Who was he? Uncle Prom said he was someone important to all of you and that you guarded him.”

“Yeah, I was his shield.” 

“What’s that?”

“I’ll, tell you more when your older, okay?”

“Okay!” she squeals and grabs his hand, swinging it around. “Let’s go see Auntie Holly and Auntie Jeanne now!” 

“Sure.” he chuckles, giving in. 

“Daddy?”

Gladio lets out a sigh. “Yeah, Mela?”

“I love you.”

He looks down at the little girl, her chubby cheeks deeply red and a big smile is on her face. Gladio feels a deep warmth fill a part of his heart that has been empty for a while and scoops up the girl in his arms, hugging her tightly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to anyone who saw that multi-posting debacle, the site went on the fritz as soon as I tried posting. But thank you for reading and commenting. :D

YEAR 6 

Gladio sits on the floor with Melantha in their little apartment, looking through a photobook Prompto made containing all of the pictures he took while the four friends were on their journey. Even though she has seen most of them before, she still finds joy in looking at them and asking her father to tell the story behind them, especially since it puts a rare smile on his face. 

“Where was this taken Dad?”

“Let’s see, oh, that was taken at Ravatogh. We were on a hunt and took down this huge bird.”

“Was it big like an Iron Giant?”

“Bigger, but it was no match for me cause I’m awesome.”

“That’s not what Aunt Iris said, she called you a dweeb.”

Gladio gasps theatrically. “Slanderous!” 

“I know, you’re really cool and strong Dad. Like when you saved all those people from that nasty daemon. You took your giant sword and went ‘thud’ over it’s head.” she chortles and mimics the move.

“It wasn’t a thud, I cut it in half.” 

Melantha chuckles and returns to the photo album, flipping a couple pages before pointing at another. “What about this?”

“Your Uncle being a dumbass and taking a selfie while we were fighting an Alphagin.”

She looks at the photo briefly, her lips forming into a thin line. “How did he manage to not lose any limbs?”

Gladio just shrugs his shoulders and grunts. The girl laughs and flips a page, looking across the photos then pointing at one.

“Oh, here’s one of you and Aunt Iris. And look, he’s fishing again in the background. He must have really liked to fish.”

“Yeah, he did. It helped him relax and get his mind off of things.”

“Maybe when the danger outside goes away, we can go fishing together.” she says and points to another photo. “Where was this taken?” 

Gladio looks at the photo and begins to frown. “That was at Galdin. We went to the docks so he could fish, then the sun started to set. Your Uncle Prompto snuck up on us and took it.”

“Dad, will I ever get to meet him?”

“I believe so.” he says and looks back at the picture. “Someday he will come back to us.”

“I can’t wait, he seems so cool too, just like you.”

“Hah! He’s the one your Aunt should be calling a dweeb.” 

“But you loved him anyway, didn’t you?”

Gladio’s cheeks turn a light red. “Yeah, I did. That was one of the things that made me fall for him.” 

“Dad?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think he’ll like me?”

“He’s gonna love you.”

YEAR 8

Gladio lays on his stomach sprawled across the ragged carpet of his apartment, trying to relax despite the throbbing pain in his lower back. He went on another rescue mission, this one sadly didn’t end well. 

There was an infected amongst the refugees and he had turned while they were loading people into the rescue vehicle. Killed more than half of the others before Gladio could put him down. He probably could have taken it down quicker and saved more lives if he wasn’t feeling slightly nauseous and warm, also could have avoided getting punctured by the once man’s long and jagged fingernails too. 

That wasn’t good for him. Medical supplies are running greatly low and Gladio doesn’t want to be a burden, so he chose to just go home and hope it doesn’t become infected. Which would be easier if he already didn’t have another wound along with what he believes is a stomach bug coming on. 

A soft glow of a candle draws closer and then is set down on the floor beside him along with a box.

“Mela, what are you doing up sweetie?”

“I heard you come in, your steps sounded slack, so I knew you got hurt again.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a scratch. I just need some rest and it’ll be all better.”

“No it won’t!” she snaps angrily and then looks to him sadly, tears in her eyes. “Dad, I don’t want to lose you like I lost my Mom.”

“Sorry.” he says and reaches a shaky hand to her head and pets her hair. 

He returns his arm back underneath his head and sighs, turning his face towards the floor. He listens as she opens up the box and roots around inside, then he sees her twirl a needle around inside the candle flame before threading it with fishing line she had in a jar with a clear liquid. 

“I see Doc taught you some things while you were with him at the clinic.”

“Yeah, he said I would be a great help to people if I knew how to patch them up and to you since you always get injured and don’t get fixed up.”

“Have you stitched anyone up yet?”

“No, just Gladdy.” 

Gladio lets a nervous laugh escape him as he eyes the ratty old Moogle doll he gave to her all those years ago. But as he looks to it, seeing the precise stitches that keep it held together, it calms him. 

“Hmm, you keep this up and you may end up working at the clinic when you get older. Maybe from now on whenever I get injured I’ll just have you stitch me up.”

“Dad don’t say that I don’t like you getting hurt.”

“Okay okay, sorry.”

“All right, try not to move. Do you want something to bite on?”

“Nah, I’m good, go ahead.”

Gladio relaxes himself as his daughter gets to work, carefully stitching his skin up and stopping whenever then man lets a grunt escape him. She finishes up the newest gash and goes to work on the other one but as soon as she peels the bandage away she begins to retch. 

“Oh gods, Daddy that wounds infected.”

“Ah, so it’s not a stomach bug, shit.”

“I’ll go get Doctor Salus.” 

“Wait, don-” She’s out the door before he can even finish the sentence. 

Gladio sighs deeply and shifts around, letting out a grunt as he does before closing his eyes and listening to the humming coming from the generators that keep the city going. He’s starting to feel tired again, like he had after returning from Zegnautus Keep without his life’s purpose all those years ago. Maybe it was the infection bringing him down, or watching those people being ripped apart and not being able to save them, or maybe it was because he was losing faith. 

“Daddy, Dad wake up.” he hears the girl cry while shaking him. 

His eyes open slowly and he turns his head towards her, seeing tears and snot running down her anguished face. She looks like that sobbing three-year old that stole his heart, gave him a renewed purpose. 

“Hey, baby girl.”

“Please don’t leave me Daddy, I’ll miss you too much and be really sad. And Papa will be sad too when he comes back.”

‘Heh, yeah, I know. Sorry.”

YEAR 10

Everyone in the city stands in shock, looking to the sky as the sun rises for the first time in ten years. Cheers and sobs of joy erupt as people hug the person next to them, feeling elated and grateful to be alive to witness this. 

Melantha fidgets with her thick black hair, a look of melancholy on her face. Her father had left two weeks ago, saying he had an important duty he needed to see through to the end and might not make it back to her this time. Before, whenever he would go to leave and warn her he might not come back, she’d beg and cry for him not to leave her alone, but this time she sent him off with a smile and a prayer knowing that this was not just another hunt or rescue mission. 

A week passes from when the endless night turned to dawn and the teen walks to the edge of town to look out over the landscape, then follows a bird with her eyes as it flies overhead towards the city. She sees a tall man dressed in an ornate uniform climb out from an old beat up truck and her heart thumps rapidly in her chest. 

“Dad!” she shouts and runs to him, jumping into her awaiting arms and spinning her. 

He sets her down and pats her head before turning back to the truck, smiling fondly. “I have someone who really wants to meet you.”

She looks to the raven-haired man as he steps from the vehicle, a slightly pained look on his face as he clutches his chest and exhales a strained breath. But as soon as his eyes lock onto hers his face morphs into one of deep affection.

“Hello.” he says softly and steps closer to her, crouching down slowly and taking her hands in his. “You must be Melantha, Gladio told me all about you and I couldn’t wait to meet you.”

“Yeah,” she says and smiles. Tears form in her eyes and she wraps her arms around him after he releases her hands. “it’s nice to finally meet you too, Papa.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like, come visit and chat with me on my [Tumblr](https://catlady1986.tumblr.com/)


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